


Dioghail

by actlikesummer



Series: The Kara Stark Chronicles [3]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Supergirl (TV 2015), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angry Kara Danvers, Kara Danvers is Kara Stark, Protective Kara Danvers, Protective Siblings, Protective Tony Stark, Supergirl au, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Has Issues, Tony Stark Is a Good Bro, Tony Stark has a sister, avengers movie - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-16
Updated: 2020-07-29
Packaged: 2021-03-04 18:28:53
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 16,586
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25320910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/actlikesummer/pseuds/actlikesummer
Summary: Set during The Avengers. When Loki threatens Earth, Nick Fury puts a team together. This team includes a genius, a super soldier, a god, two assassins, a Hulk, and an alien. Can they save the world from his reign?
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Tony Stark, Kara Danvers/Steve Rogers
Series: The Kara Stark Chronicles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1557508
Comments: 6
Kudos: 73





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> Dioghail means "avenge" in Gaelic. So there's where I got the title, in case you were wondering.

**“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” –E. E. Cummings**

Kara looked over the city lights as she flew above them. They looked like stars from the height she was at, and they never ceased to make her smile. She found herself flying over the city every night, it seemed, just to see the beautiful sight.

She’d been thinking of Krypton a lot in the last few weeks, and being amongst the stars gave her the feeling of home that she hadn’t had in a long time. Her birth home, that was. She was strong enough to admit that she would never feel more at home than when she was with Layna and Tony. But sometimes she needed to feel a connection to her birth parents.

She took in a breath of fresh air and smiled as she prolonged the moment. Tony and Pepper had been in New York for over a week, and she knew that they wouldn’t be home, but she knew Layna would be waiting for her. As she approached her house, she looked through the walls and saw Layna sitting with Happy in the living room, watching a movie on tv.

She took her descent and flew through the long garage driveway into the lab. Landing gracefully, she brushed her hair out of her face.

_“Welcome back, Miss Stark.”_

“Thanks, J. Did I miss anything important?”

_“There has, in fact, been an emergency phone call from Nick Fury holding in your voicemail. Shall I play it for you?”_

Kara’s face scrunched in determination. “Yes.”

She stood and listened to the message play, her face darkening. “JARVIS, reply to the message with a confirmation. Tell him I’m on my way.”

Grabbing her phone from the desk, she quickly dialed a familiar number. “Hey, it’s me. Don’t kill me, but I need a favor.”


	2. A Tony Stark Christmas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “This isn’t about personality profiles, anymore.”

24 HOURS EARLIER

“How does it look?”

Tony smirked as he flew. “Like Christmas…but with more me.”

“We’ve got to go wider on the public awareness campaign. You need to do some press. Kara, too, honestly.” Pepper rambled. “I’m in DC tomorrow. I’m working on the zoning for the next three buildings.”

“Pepper, you’re killing me,” Tony told her. “The moment, remember? Enjoy the moment.”

“Then get in here, and I will.”

Tony’s heart leapt at her words as he landed on the launch pad, and the suit disassembled around him. As he walked inside, JARVIS’ voice filled the air.

_“Sir, Agent Coulson of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on the line.”_

“I’m not in,” Tony told his AI. “I’m actually out.”

_“Sir, I’m afraid he’s insisting.”_

“Grow a spine, JARVIS. I got a date.”

He walked over to Pepper and grinned as she focused on the visual projections of their project.

“Levels are holding steady, I think.” She bit her lip in uncertainty.

“Of course, they are. I was directly involved.” He quipped and joined her at the desk. “Which brings me to my next question. How does it feel to be a genius?”  
Pepper shook her head. “Well, ha, I really wouldn’t know, now would I?”

As she dismissed the projection, he furrowed his brow. “What do you mean? All of this came from you.”

“No, all this came from that.” She tapped the arc reactor in his chest.

“Give yourself some credit. Please. Stark Tower is your baby.” He gazed into her eyes, putting his hands on her shoulders. “Give yourself…12% of the credit.”

Staring at him, Pepper scoffed. “12%?”

“An argument could be made for 15!” Tony said quickly, sensing her ire.

“12%? My baby?” She turned and walked to the living room table.

“Well, I did do all the heavy lifting.” Tony followed her. “Literally, I lifted the heavy things. And, sorry, but the security snafu? That was on you.”

“Oh.” Pepper said absentmindedly as she poured champagne.

“My private elevator…”

She quirked an eyebrow. “You mean _our_ elevator?”

“…It was teeming with sweaty workmen.” He reminded her. “I’m going to pay for that comment about percentages in some subtle way later, aren’t I?”

“It’s not going to be that subtle.” She informed him and smirked.

“I’ll tell you what. The next building is going to say ‘Potts’ on the tower.” He compromised.

“On the lease.” She corrected him.

He winced jokingly. “Call your mom. Can you bunk over?”

_“Sir, the telephone. I’m afraid my protocols are being overridden.”_

From his phone, Coulson’s voice echoed. “Mr. Stark, we need to talk.”

Tony sighed and held his phone up. “You have reached the life model decoy of Tony Stark. Please leave a message.”

“This is urgent.”

“Then leave it urgently,” Tony suggested as the elevator doors opened, revealing Coulson. “Security breach!”

“Mr. Stark,” Coulson said without pleasantries.

“Phil!” Pepper exclaimed, standing to greet him. “Come in.”

“Phil?” Tony was confused. Since when were they on a first name basis? “Uh, his first name is ‘Agent.’”

“I can’t stay.” The agent told her.

“Come on in; we’re celebrating.”

“Which is why he can’t stay,” Tony repeated, quickly following her movements.

Shaking his head, he held out a file. “We need you to look this over as soon as possible.”

“I don’t…like being handed things.”

“That’s fine because I love being handed things,” Pepper said as she took the file from Coulson. “Let’s trade.”

She handed him her glass as she grabbed the file, then passed it to Tony while taking his glass. “Thank you.”

The billionaire sighed. “Official consulting hours are between eight and five every other Thursday.”

“This isn’t a consultation.”

“Is this about the Avengers?” Pepper asked, and both sets of eyes turned to her. “Which I know nothing about…”

Scoffing, Tony opened the file and made his way to project it on his desk. “The Avengers Initiative was scrapped, I thought, and I didn’t even qualify.”

Pepper winced. “I didn’t know that, either.”

“Yeah, apparently I’m volatile, self-obsessed, don’t play well with others.” Tony listed the thing Natasha had written about him.

“That I did know.”

Phil smirked at Pepper before turning back to Tony. “This isn’t about personality profiles, anymore.”

“Whatever.” Tony rolled his eyes. “Ms. Potts, got a second?”

Pepper smiled apologetically at Phil. “Half a moment.”

She walked over to Tony at a rapid pace as he typed things into his database.

“You know, I thought we were having a moment.”

“I was having 12% of a moment.” She teased. “This seems serious, Phil’s pretty shaken.”

“How would you know if it’s…” Tony turned to her. “Why is he ‘Phil’?”

“What is all this?” Pepper asked him, ignoring his question.

“This is…uh…” He blew up the images onto the projection in front of him. “This.”

Noise filled the room as videos from multiple battles played a the same time. On the left, images of the Hulk flashed, while next to it, images of battles fought by both Captain America and Thor respectively played as well.

“I’m going to take the jet to DC tonight.” Pepper said immediately, overwhelmed by the footage.

“Tomorrow,” Tony told her.

“You have homework.” She reminded him, neither of their eyes leaving the screens. “You have a lot of homework.”

“Well, what if I…didn’t?” He asked her seriously.

“If you didn’t? You mean when you’ve finished?” She asked, and he nodded. “Well, um, then…”

She leaned in a whispered something into his ear. His eyes grew wide, and a grin spread on his face. “Square deal. Fly safe.”

“Work hard,” Pepper told him before she kissed him. “So, any chance you’re driving by LaGuardia?”

Phil nodded. “I can drop you.”

“Fantastic.”

Then he turned back to Tony. “Before I forget, Fury also wants you to call your sister in on this. We need her too.”

Tony pointed at him as a goodbye as they left before dropping his arms at his side. Turning back to the screens in front of him, he focused on the image of the Tesseract. Grabbing it, he examined the cube and waited until he couldn’t hear their voices anymore.

Putting it back in his place, he sighed. “J, you back?”

_“Yes, Sir. My protocols have been reset to your specifications.”_

“I need you to call Kara for me.” He told the AI.

_“And what exactly shall I tell her?”_

Tony hesitated. “Send her pictures and the video footage from tonight’s launch.”

_“Is that all, sir?”_

“Yeah, JARVIS. Just that.”

Pushing the guilt out of his chest, he picked the files back up and started in on his work.


	3. Enter Cap, Hulk, and Black Widow

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As they arrived on the helicarrier, the first thing Steve saw were uniformed men and women training and preparing for their mission. It reminded him of his time in the army and found comfort in the simplicity of it.

Flying over the water, Coulson watched as his childhood hero sat only feet from him. It had always been a dream of his to meet Captain America, but actually getting to work with him was even better.

“So, this Dr. Banner was trying to replicate the serum they used on me?” Steve asked him while watching the footage.

Phil shrugged. “A lot of people were. You were the world’s first superhero. Banner thought gamma radiation might hold the key to unlocking Irskine’s original formula.”

“Didn’t really go his way, did it?” Steve asked more rhetorically than anything.

“Not so much.” Phil winced. “When he’s not that thing, though, the guy’s like a Stephen Hawking.” Steve stared at him in confusion. “Like a…really smart person.”

“So what’s the deal with the alien?" Steve asked as he switched to a different file. “There’s no video footage of it?”

“‘Her’, Captain.” Phil corrected. “And no…she’s pretty private. Part of the deal we made with her was that her information would be secure.”

“But how does an alien go around without anybody noticing it?” Steve asked, then corrected himself. “Her.”

“You’d be surprised by how easy it is for her to blend in.” The agent informed him.

“But why the secrecy? If she’s on our side, why not give all the information?”

“She’s been through a lot over the years. More than most can even imagine. Plus, she has a child.”

Steve looked up at him, surprised. “So she has a lot more to protect than just her own life.”

“Exactly.” Phil agreed. “I gotta say, it’s an honor to meet you officially. I sort of met you. I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping.” Steve gave him a look. “I mean, I was present while you were…unconscious.

“You know, it’s really just a huge honor to have you onboard.”

Steve stood and looked out the front window. “Well, I hope I’m the man for the job.”

“You are,” Phil said immediately. “Absolutely. Uh, we made some modifications to the uniform.”

“The uniform?” Steve was shocked. “Aren’t the stars and stripes a little…old-fashioned?”

Shrugging, Phil sighed. “With everything that’s happening and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old-fashioned.”

…

As they arrived on the helicarrier, the first thing Steve saw were uniformed men and women training and preparing for their mission. It reminded him of his time in the army and found comfort in the simplicity of it.

Looking up, he saw a red-headed woman walking towards them, and Phil gestured to her. “Agent Romanoff, Captain Rogers.”

“Ma’am.”

“Hi.” She greeted, then turned to her superior. “They need you on the bridge. They’re starting the face-trace.”

As Phil walked away, Natasha turned to Steve. “It was quite the buzz around here, finding you in the ice. I thought Coulson was going to swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?”

Steve looked down at her. “Trading cards?”

She smirked. “They’re vintage. He’s very proud.”

Steve was about to speak again when he looked up and saw a man nervously standing alone on the deck. “Dr. Banner.”

Bruce looked up and shook his hand. “Oh yeah, hi. They told me you would be coming.”

“Word is you can find the cube.” The soldier wondered.

“Is that the only word on me?” Bruce asked, looking around at everyone.

Steve smiled. “The only word I care about.”

Bruce nodded, feeling slightly relieved. “It must be strange for you, all of this.”

“Well, this is actually kind of familiar.”

Walking up behind them, Natasha cleared her throat. “Gentlemen, you might want to step inside in a minute. It’s going to get a little hard to breathe.”

As the engines started to power up, both men looked around, then finally landed their gaze on each other. “Is this a submarine?”

Bruce scoffed. “Really. They want me in a submerged, pressurized, metal container?” Looking out over the engines, he saw that he was wrong. They would be flying. “No, no. This is much worse.”

As they walked inside, Steve tried to make the scientist feel a little more comfortable by getting his mind off of where they were. “So, Dr. Banner? What do you think of this whole…alien on the team thing?”

At that, Bruce chuckled. “I mean, if I hadn’t seen her on the news, I wouldn’t believe it. But as a scientist, to know that there is life on other planets? It’s incredible. What are your thoughts?”

Steve sighed. “I guess I have to meet her first.”

…

As Natasha showed Bruce his lab, Steve followed Fury off the main deck. “So this is SHIELD?”

Fury nodded. “Agent Carter and Howard Stark made all of this possible. After you happened, they knew the world needed an extra amount of security and intelligence. This was the outcome.”

“It’s…amazing,” Steve told him. “Even after everything that happened before, it’s nothing I ever could have pictured.”

Fury stopped and faced him. “Captain, I understand that you have been through a lot. But if you give it a chance, you might find that there are others here who have been through traumatic events as well. You know, if you ever need someone to talk to.”

Steve smirked. “You mean the alien?”

“Her name is Kara.” Fury told him. “If you keep calling her ‘the alien’ she might just throw you from this ship.”

“Good to know,” Steve answered as a woman came walking up to them.

“Captain Rogers, this is Agent Hill.” Fury introduced them.

“Captain.” She nodded at him, then turned to Fury. “Sir, we have an issue regarding one of our…assets.”

“What kind of issue?”

“Sir, it seems that we have had no communication with them. We’re not entirely sure they were even contacted.” She said quickly.

Fury grunted. “Dammit. I should have known. I’ll handle it.”

He walked away, leaving Steve and Hill standing there. Looking at him, Hill sighed. “Captain, is there anywhere I can take you?”

He shook his head. “No, I’m okay. Thank you.”

Nodding, she walked off, and Steve was left standing alone. “Kara…”

He whispered the name on his lips and blinked. He wasn’t entirely sure yet how to feel about aliens, but he was definitely looking forward to meeting this one.


	4. The First Group Meeting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You’re Supergirl.”
> 
> She nodded and shook his hand. “Kara Stark. It’s nice to meet you in person.”
> 
> “You too, Miss Stark.” He told her.
> 
> “Please, call me Kara.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love this chapter because it's the first time Steve and Kara meet. I have big plans for them in this series and I am really excited about it. I can't wait for you to read it too.

“So, how did that plan go for you?” Steve asked Tony, glaring at him across the cab of the jet.

Tony shrugged as he looked at Thor and Loki. “Things didn’t go exactly as planned, but I’m not dead. So it’s a win.”

Shaking his head, Steve sighed. “You would say that.”

Ignoring him, Tony looked at the Asgardians. “So…the legends are true?”

Thor shrugged. “Hm…most of them.”

He directed his next question at Loki. “Is it true, then, that you fucked a horse?”

“Stark!” Steve shouted.

“I will neither confirm, nor deny, that story.” The trickster god smirked.

“I knew it,” Tony muttered. “What about you, blondie? Any interesting lovers we should know about?”

“That’s enough,” Steve said, stepping between them. “Is this how you’re going to treat the alien when she gets here?”

“Well, considering she’s used to his shit, she wouldn’t be surprised,” Natasha said from the cockpit.

“Hey, she’s just as annoying as I am,” Tony complained.

Natasha smirked. “I’m telling her you said that.”

“Who is this alien that you are speaking of?” Thor questioned, interrupting their banter.

“A Kryptonian,” Tony said, turning his attention to the god.

Setting his hammer down, Thor crossed his arms. “Krypton was destroyed many years ago. I was not aware that anyone survived.”

“She did,” Tony said.

“I hope to tell her how sorry I am for her loss,” Thor said sincerely.

“Well, I’ll pass on the message for you, but for now, I’ll accept it for her,” Tony told him and patted him on the shoulder.

Steve quirked a brow. “Yes, because you have the right to accept things on other people’s behalf? Not everything is about you.”

“It is when it involves my sister, Rogers.”

Steve stopped. “Wait…the alien is your sister?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You really need to stop saying that and call her by her name. Trust me: she can and will kick your ass if she feels like it.”

“Right, sorry. Kara, is your sister?”

“Yep, has been for almost a few decades now,” Tony told him. “Haven’t had a day of peace since.”

As they landed on the helicarrier, Natasha shook her head. “Oh, stop it, Stark. You know you love her.”

“Yeah, yeah. Don’t tell her that.”

…

Back on the main deck, everyone waited while Fury interrogated Loki. While Tony was not with them, Bruce, Steve, Thor, Natasha, and Hill listened to the live feed.

“…It’s an impressive cage. Not built, I think, for me.” Loki’s voice echoed over them.

“Built for something a lot stronger than you.” Fury informed him.

“Oh, I’ve heard.” The god taunted. “A mindless beast. Makes play he’s still a man.”

As Natasha lifted her head to gauge Bruce’s reaction, Steve felt the seat next to him move. Turning, he came face to face with a blonde woman in black-rimmed glasses. She wore a dark purple blouse and black slacks; her hair was pinned halfway up. She smiled at him.

“How desperate are you, that you call on such lost creatures to defend you?” Loki continued.

“How desperate am I?” Fury’s voice hardened. “You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can’t hope to control. You talk about peace, and you kill because it’s fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.”

“Ooh, it burns you to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power…unlimited power. And for what? A warm light for all mankind to share…and then to be reminded what real power is.”

Smirking, Fury walked away. “Well, let me know if ‘real power’ wants a magazine or something.”

As the feed ended, everyone paused. Finally, Bruce broke the silence. “He really grows on you, doesn’t he?”

“Loki’s going to drag this out,” Kara said immediately.

Steve glanced at her before looking at Thor. “So, what’s his play?”

“He has an army called the Chitauri. They’re not of Asgard, nor any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth, in turn, I suspect, for the Tesseract.” Thor revealed.

“An army,” Steve shook his head. “from outer space.”

“So, he’s building another portal.” Bruce fiddled with his glasses. “That’s what he needs Erik Selvig for.”

“Selvig?”

“He’s an astrophysicist,” Bruce told him.

Thor nodded. “He’s a friend.”

“Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours,” Natasha said quietly, looking at the table.

“I want to know why Loki let us take him.” Steve wondered suddenly. “He’s not leading an army from here.”

“I don’t think we should be focusing on Loki,” Bruce commented. “That guy’s brain is a bag full of cats. You can smell crazy on him.”

“Have care how you speak,” Thor warned him. “Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he is my brother.”

“He killed eighty people in two days,” Natasha told him.

Thor paused. “He’s adopted.”

“Oh, I hear that,” Kara muttered.

With that comment, everyone turned to look at her. Natasha just smiled. “Miss Stark.”

Kara smiled and nodded at her. “Agent Romanoff. Good to see you again.”

Steve turned, his jaw falling slightly. “You’re Supergirl.”

She nodded and shook his hand. “Kara Stark. It’s nice to meet you in person.”

“You too, Miss Stark.” He told her.

“Please, call me Kara.” She insisted.

“I think it’s about the mechanics.” Bruce interrupted. “Iridium…what do they need the Iridium for?”

Kara opened her mouth to speak when another voice cut her off. “It’s a stabilizing agent.”

Adjusting her glasses, Kara glared at the moving body of her brother. Seeing this, Steve sent her a confused glance.

“I’m just saying, pick a weekend. I’ll fly you to Portland. Keep love alive.” Tony said quietly to Coulson as they passed the table, barely looking at its occupants.

As they parted ways, Tony finally addressed the group again. “It means the portal won’t collapse on itself like it did at SHIELD. No hard feelings, Point Break. You’ve got a mean swing.” He told Thor and turned, catching Kara’s gaze.

Physically wincing, he muttered under his breath. “Please stay calm.”

“What?” Hill asked him. “We couldn’t hear you.”

“It wasn’t meant for you,” Kara told her, not taking her eyes off of her brother. “Hello, Tony. It’s nice to see you. Can I ask why I had to find out about this wonderful get-together from Nick Fury instead of my own brother? Is there a reason you want me in on the smaller fights but not big ones like these?”

“Shit. Did I forget to call you?” He feigned innocence.

She quirked a brow. “Yeah, let’s go with that for now.”

Watching her carefully in case she decided to fry his ass, he continued his journey to the bridge. “Also, it means the portal can open as wide and stay open as long, as Loki wants.” He looked around at all the tech employees. “Raise the mizzenmast. Jib the topsails.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Idiot.”

“That man is playing Galaga. Thought we wouldn’t notice, but we did.” He announced, and everyone turned to look at one of the men below them. “How does Fury see these things?”

“He turns,” Hill told him sternly.

“Sounds exhausting.” He started touching the screens and equipment as he spoke. “The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source of high-energy-density. Something to kick-start the cube.”

“When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?” Hill asked him.

“Last night.” He said humorlessly. “The packet, Selvig’s notes, the extraction theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?”

“I would have if you hadn’t been an asshole.” Kara reminded him. 

“Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?” Steve asked him.

Pacing, Bruce replied. “He would have to heat the cube to 120 million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier.”

“Unless Selvig has figured out how to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect,” Tony added.

“Well, if he could do that, he could achieve heavy-ion fusion at any reactor on the planet,” Bruce concluded, looking directly at Tony.

“Finally, someone who speaks English,” Tony said happily.

Steve looked at Kara. “Is that what just happened?”

She shrugged. “For them, yeah.”

“Hey, if I recall correctly, you’re also a genius.” Tony reminded her.

“Maybe, but I’m better at reading my audience.” She retorted.

Tony turned away from her and shook Bruce’s hand. “It’s good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on antielectron collisions is unparalleled.”

Kara bit her lip and started muttering under her breath so only Steve could hear. “Don’t say it, don’t say it…”

“And I’m a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster.”

“He said it.” She muttered.

“Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube.” Fury told them as he walked in. “I was hoping you might join him.”

“I would start with that stick of his,” Steve mentioned. “It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon.”

“I don’t know about that, but it is powered by the cube.” Fury agreed. “And I’d like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys.”

“Monkeys?” Thor asked. “I do not understand.”

“I do.” Everyone turned to look at Steve. “I understood that reference.”

With everyone staring at him, Kara saw him start to look embarrassed. Smirking, she started singing quietly. “Somewhere over the rainbow…”

“Oh God, please don’t get her started.” Tony rolled his eyes.

Kara grinned at Steve. “But Auntie Em!”

Tony looked at Bruce. “Shall we play, Doctor?”

Bruce gestured behind them. “This way, sir.”


	5. An Old Married Couple

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I agree with my brother. I want to know what the hell these guys are up to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone know of a better way to do a page break within chapters? I'm currently using the "..." but I'm not sure how that's coming across. If no one is bothered by it, I'm just going to keep doing that. But if anyone knows something better, that would be amazing. Thanks!

As the group dispersed, Kara walked next to Steve through the hallway. “So…I’m sorry for that little…scene.”

Steve chuckled. “No, it’s okay. Watching you two interact is actually kind of entertaining.”

“Yeah, that’s what our mom used to say too.” She smiled.

“Do you miss them?” He stopped walking and winced. “I’m sorry that didn’t come out right.”

She shook her head. “It’s okay. Yes, I do miss them. Both sets, actually.”

“Did you know your birth parents?” He asked as they walked slowly through the halls.

“Yeah, they died when I was about ten.” She told him.

Hesitating, he looked at her. “What happened?”

Pushing her glasses up further on her face, she bit her lip. “When I was ten, my planet, Krypton, was dying.”

“I’ve never heard of it.”

“It’s not in Earth’s orbit.” She shrugged. “My parents were royalty, and they knew about it but refused to act on it. Eventually, the planet couldn’t take it anymore, and it started to die.

“My parents, knowing that it meant our extinction, put me in a pod and sent me away just before the planet exploded.”

“My god,” Steve said on his held breath. “I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you. It haunted me for a while, but…then I found the Starks. They took me in, and I met Tony; I found my family.” She smiled.

“You guys seem close.” He commented, thinking of their byplay.

“We are…extremely close.” She told him. “Even after everything, he’s always there for us. He may be an idiot sometimes, but when it comes down to it, there’s no one else I’d rather have by my side.”

She stopped walking then and put her hand on his arm. “Listen, there’s something you should know.” She paused. “I know you were close with my father. He spoke of you almost nonstop right up until the day he died.

“But the Howard you knew, isn’t the Howard that Tony and I knew. For you, he was a friend. For Tony…well, he could be abusive and cold and mean.”

“And for you?” Steve asked, concern on his face.

“Honestly, he pretty much treated me like a lab rat.” She admitted. “It took me a long time to get over that.”

“You don’t seem as mad at him as Tony does.”

“He saved my life.” She told him. “I didn’t know it until he was gone, but he adopted me to keep me safe. He made me these glasses to help with my extra input and gave me a safe place to live…and a family. So…yeah, he was kind of an asshole most of the time, but he considered me a daughter, and I can’t ever thank him for that.”

“Wow.” Steve let the information process in his head.

“Hey, why don’t we go check on Tony and Bruce. Maybe they will have something for us to do.” She smiled out of the blue and gestured for him to follow her.

…

“So…feel free to ignore my prying.” Bruce started.

Tony shook his head. “You want to know why I didn’t tell Kara about this.” Tony supplied for him.

“Uh…yeah.” He admitted. “I mean…I’ve seen the footage. It seems like she’s capable of handling this sort of thing. Probably even more than any of the rest of us, to be honest.”

“Oh, she can, no contest.” Tony agreed as he typed an equation into the computer. “But she’s also my sister and a single mom with a seven-year-old at home.”

“That’s right. I forgot about your niece.” Bruce said quietly. “But that’s not the only reason, is it?”

Taking a deep breath, Tony walked over to the other scientist. “Honestly? I have a bad feeling about this whole thing, and if it goes the way I think it could…”

“What is it?” Bruce wondered.

“I don’t want to make her relive the one event that still keeps her up at night,” Tony told him. “Krypton’s destruction still gives her nightmares, and I don’t want to add to that.”

Sensing that Tony was upset, Bruce changed the subject. “The gamma readings are definitely consistent with Selvig’s reports of the Tesseract. But it’s going to take weeks to process.”

“If we bypass their mainframe and direct route to the Homer cluster, we can clock this at around 600 teraflops,” Tony told him.

Bruce chuckled. “All I packed was a toothbrush.”

“You know, you should come by Stark Tower sometime,” Tony suggested. “Top ten floors, all R&D. You’d love it. It’s Candy Land.”

“Thanks, but the last time I was in New York, I kind of broke…Harlem.” Bruce winced.

“Well, I promise a stress-free environment. No tension, no surprises.” Tony walked behind him and poked him with a stylus.

“Ow!”

“Hey!” Steve said as he and Kara walked into the room. “Are you nuts?”

“Jury’s out,” Tony replied.

“Yes,” Kara muttered, and Bruce smiled at her.

Tony looked at Bruce. “You really have got a lid on it, don’t you? What’s your secret? Mellow jazz, bongo drums, huge bag of weed?”

“Is everything a joke to you?” Steve demanded to know.

“Funny things are,” Tony told him.

“Threatening the safety of everyone on this ship isn’t funny. No offense, Doc.” The captain said quickly, causing Bruce to interrupt.

“It’s alright. I wouldn’t have come aboard if I couldn’t handle pointy things.”

“You’re tip-toeing, big man. You need to strut.” Tony said, ignoring Steve.

“And you need to focus on the problem, Mr. Stark.” Steve raised his voice.

“He is,” Kara told him. “This is how he works.”

“Do you think I’m not?” Tony wondered as he picked up a silver bag. “Why did Fury call us in; why now? Why not before? What isn’t he telling us? I can’t do the equation if I don’t have all the variables.”

“You think Fury’s hiding something?” Steve asked.

Tony poured some blueberries into his hand and looked him directly in the eye. “He’s a spy. Captain, he’s the spy. His secrets have secrets. It’s bugging him, too, isn’t it?” He gestured to Bruce.

“Uh…I just want to finish my work here and…”

“Doctor?”

Bruce looked up to see all three of them looking at him. “‘A warm light for all mankind.’ Loki’s jab at Fury about the cube.”

“I heard it.” Steve nodded.

“Well, I think that was meant for you two.” Bruce gestured to the siblings and took the offered snack. “Even if Barton didn’t tell Loki about the tower, it was still all over the news.”

“The Stark Tower?” Steve reiterated. “That big, ugly…” He glanced at Kara and cut himself off. “…building in New York?”

“It’s powered by an arc reactor, a self-sustaining energy source,” Bruce mentioned. “That building will run itself for, what, a year?”

“That’s just the prototype,” Kara told him.

“We’re kind of the only name in clean energy right now.” Tony finished for her. “That’s what he’s getting at.”

“So, why didn’t SHIELD bring them in on the Tesseract project?” Bruce asked rhetorically. “What are they doing in the energy business in the first place?”

This time, Steve faced Kara. “What do you think about all of this?”

“Honestly? The Tesseract is from space. Sure, they didn’t know how to contact Thor, but they’ve had tabs on me since I landed here. Why not bring me in on it? Not only am I a genius like these two and Selvig, but I’m also from outer space. You’d think that maybe, just maybe, they would want to see if there was any connection.”

“Is there?” Steve wondered.

Kara shook her head. “Not that I know of.”

“Yeah, I’m definitely going to look into that once my decryption program finishes breaking into all of SHIELD’s secure files,” Tony said as he walked to stand next to his sister.

“I’m sorry, did you say…”

“JARVIS has been running it since I hit the bridge.”

Steve turned to Kara. “Did you know about this?”

“Since the program starting running, yeah.” She told him. “Super hearing.”

“In a few hours we’ll know every dirty secret SHIELD has ever had.” Tony smiled. “Blueberry?”

“Yet, you’re confused about why they didn’t want you around,” Steve said sternly to both of them.

“Hey, that’s not fair.” Kara jumped in.

“An intelligence organization that fears intelligence? Historically, not awesome.”

“I think Loki’s trying to wind us up,” Steve told them. “This is a man who means to start a war, and if we don’t stay focused, he’ll succeed. We have orders. We should follow them.”

“Following’s not really my style,” Tony told him.

“And you’re all about style, aren’t you?”

“Hey, back off,” Kara growled at Steve.

“Are you saying you’re okay with this?” He shouted.

“First of all, don’t ever shout at me again. Second, leave my brother alone unless you want to get laid out on this floor.” Her eye twitched. “I’m not above kicking anyone’s ass if I have to. Thirdly, yes, I agree with my brother. I want to know what the hell these guys are up to.”

“By going behind their backs?”

“Do you honestly think they are going to tell us otherwise?” Both of their voices were getting louder.

“Steve…tell me, none of this smells a little funky to you,” Bruce asked quietly, interrupting the duo.

Glancing at them, Steve sighed. “Just find the cube.” Then he stormed out.

Glaring after him, Kara let out a frustrated scream and stormed through the opposite door, leaving Tony and Bruce silently behind.

Looking at Tony, Bruce scratched his head. “Did they…sound anything like an old married couple to you, or was that just me?”

Tony visibly shuddered. “Please don’t even joke about that.”

Then they went back to their work.


	6. Childhood Friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “If it were Tony, yeah, I’d do what I had to in order to protect people, but I would fight like hell to bring him back to the man I have always known he was.”

Walking back out onto the bridge, Kara was fuming. Seeing Thor standing alone, she figured she needed a distraction. He looked lonely, and she could tell he felt out of place. Knowing she’d felt that way before, she joined him at the railing.

“Weird, right?”

He looked down at her. “Yes, very weird.”

Leaning her hip against the metal bar, she sighed. “I don’t know if you remember this, but I’m pretty sure we met once.”

Looking at her in confusion, Thor tilted his head to the side. “I do not recall.”

“It was a long time ago. My parents were high on the Kryptonian Council and were invited to visit Asgard by your father.”

This time, his face showed recognition. “Your parents…you are a Zor-El?”

Nodding, she smiled. “Yes, I am. Zor-El and Alura were my parents.”

“You came with them to visit.” He remembered. “You spent much time with my brother and me during that trip.”

“I did…it was one of the happier memories I try to keep when I think back to my homeworld.” She told him. “Thanks to the advanced technology of both our homes, we kept in contact until…”

Putting an arm around her, they hugged. “My old friend, I am sorry for your loss. When we were told of Krypton’s destruction, my brother and I were upset to learn of your fate. I am happy to know that you survived.”

“My parents ensured it.” She swallowed roughly. “They stuck me in a pod and sent me away. But I got stuck in the Phantom Zone when the explosion happened.”

“A truly terrible place, I’m told.”

She nodded. “Time doesn’t exist there. I was stuck for about ten years, I think. Luckily, I slept for the majority of it.”

“How did you manage to escape?” He wondered, his full attention now on her.

She turned and looked out over the people working frantically. “I don’t know. One day I just woke up, and my pod was working again. It continued on its path to Earth, and I landed, completely confused and alone. Luckily, S.H.I.E.L.D. found me, and I ended up adopted by a pretty good family.”

“Well, I am happy to hear of your luck Kara Zor-El.” Thor teased.

“Actually, these days I go by Kara Stark.”

“You are related to Stark?”

She nodded. “As I said earlier, I get the problems that come with having an adopted sibling.” She rubbed his arm. “What happened to Loki, Thor?”

“I do not know.” He looked at her sadly. “There was a time not long ago when he was obsessed with gaining our father’s throne. He attacked me here on Midgard and nearly destroyed everything I hold dear. Our father tried to save him, but said some things so Loki…he fell off the Bifrost.”

“Oh, Rao. Thor…”

“We believed him dead until now. We mourned him.” He collected his thoughts. “I always thought I knew Loki but now…I feel I do not know him at all.”

“Listen, I know we’re probably going to have to fight him and that he has hurt a lot of people. But don’t give up on him.” She advised him. “If it were Tony, yeah, I’d do what I had to in order to protect people, but I would fight like hell to bring him back to the man I have always known he was.”

“You have become very wise in your time on Midgard, my friend,” Thor smirked.

“Hey!” She smacked his arm lightly. “I was always wise. But yeah, you have to find some sort of wisdom when you have a child to raise.”

“You have a child?” Thor smiled at this information, and Kara was glad to see him happy for the moment.

Nodding, she pulled out her phone. “Her name is Layna. She’s seven.”

Pulling up a picture, she showed the god, whose smile grew even more prominent. “She looks much like you did when you came to Asgard.”

“Well, she definitely takes after me, thank Rao.”

“And what of her father?”

Kara features darkened. “Let’s just say he’s not in the picture and never will be again.” Then her eyes lit up. “Hey, why don’t we see if we can find some information on those important people you were talking about.”

…

“As soon as Loki took the doctor, we moved Jane Foster,” Coulson told them. “They’ve got an excellent observatory in Tromso. She was asked to consult there very suddenly yesterday. Handsome fee, private plane, very remote. She’ll be safe.”

“Thank you,” Thor told him. “It’s no accident, Loki taking Erik Selvig. I dread what he plans for him once he’s done. Erik is a good man.”

“Hey,” Kara put her hand on his arm in comfort. “we’ll figure it out.”

“He talks about you a lot,” Coulson mentioned. “You changed his life. You changed everything around here.” He looked at Kara. “So did you, if we’re being honest.”

Thor chuckled. “They were better as they were. We pretend on Asgard that we’re more advanced, but we come here battling like bilgesnipe.”

“Like what?”

Kara smiled at Coulson’s confusion, as Thor explained. “Bilgesnipe. You know, huge, scaly, big antlers. You don’t have those?”

“I don’t think so,” Coulson said.

“We did.” Kara chimed in.

“They are repulsive, and they trample everything in their path.”

“Actually, on Krypton, they were trained. I had one as a pet.” Kara shrugged. “Depends on the environment, I guess.”

Thor walked over to the window and looked out at the sky. “When I first came to Earth, Loki’s rage followed me here, and your people paid the price. And now, again. In my youth, I courted war.”

“The war hasn’t started yet.” Looking up, they saw Fury standing on the stairs next to them. “You think you could make Loki tell us where the Tesseract is?”

“I do not know,” Thor said honestly. “Loki’s mind if far afield. It’s not just power he craves; it’s vengeance upon me. There’s no pain would prise his need from him.”

“A lot of guys think that until the pain starts.” Fury explained as he walked towards him.

“What are you asking me to do?”

“I’m asking, what are you prepared to do?”

“Loki’s a prisoner.” Kara reminded them.

“Then why do I feel like he’s the only person on this boat who wants to be here?”

Turning to look at Kara, Thor saw that her face displayed the same wonder as his own. They hadn’t thought of that, but now that they did, they knew something wasn’t right.

Kara opened her mouth to speak again when an alarm blared, alerting them to a virus that was detected. Cringing, she looked at Fury, who glared at her.

“Both of you, with me, right now.”

Walking behind him, Kara looked at Thor. “Tony and I are in so much trouble.”


	7. Phase 2 (AKA Nobody Listens to Kara)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Slamming a gun and what looked to be a dagger on the table, Steve glared at them. “Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube and other substances to make weapons."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait guys, I am at my vacation home in northern Wisconsin and I had my best friends here for a few days.

Entering the lab, Kara tried to warn her brother before Fury could say anything, but she was unsuccessful.

“What are you doing, Mr. Stark?”

Glancing at Kara, who shrugged, Tony leaned on the desk. “Uh, kind of been wondering the same thing about you.”

“You’re supposed to be locating the Tesseract.” Fury told him.

“We are,” Bruce told him. “The model’s locked and we’re sweeping for the signature now. When we get a hit, we’ll have the location within half a mile.”

Tony nodded. “Yeah, then you get your cube back. No muss, no fuss.” He paused as the screen lit up in front of him. “What _is_ Phase 2?”

Slamming a gun and what looked to be a dagger on the table, Steve glared at them. “Phase 2 is SHIELD uses the cube and other substances to make weapons. Sorry, computer was moving a little slow for me.”

Kara wandered over to him, but as she approached the table, she started to feel woozy. “Something isn’t right…”

“No, don’t!” Fury warned but Kara was already unsheathing the dagger.

Instantly, her veins glowed green and she cried out in pain. Dropping the dagger to the floor, her body made to follow but Steve caught her before she fell. “What the hell?”

Steve kicked the dagger over to Thor, who instantly crushed it beneath his foot, breaking it in two. Then he kicked the pieces into the hallway where they couldn’t hurt her. Breathing heavily, she looked at Steve. “Thanks.”

“What was that?” He asked her.

“Really Nick? A Kryptonite dagger?” Tony asked him.

“We gathered everything related to the Tesseract.” Fury told them. “This does not mean that we’re making…”

“I’m sorry, Nick. What, were you lying?” Tony asked and he turned the screen so that everyone could see the weapons displayed on it.

As Kara finally stood back up on her own, Steve put his hands on his belt. “I was wrong, Director. The world hasn’t changed a bit.”

As Natasha walked in, Bruce looked at her. “Did you know about this?”

“You want to think about removing yourself from this environment, Doctor?” She replied, but the scientist shook his head.

“I was in Calcutta. I was pretty well removed.” Bruce informed them.

Natasha moved forward. “Loki is manipulating you.”

“And you’ve been doing what, exactly?” Kara asked from across the room and Steve turned to look at her. “What? I want to know.”

Natasha kept her comments directed towards Bruce. “You didn’t come here because I bat my eyelashes at you.”

“Yes, and I’m not leaving because suddenly you get a little twitchy.” He told her, standing his ground. “I’d like to know why SHIELD is using the Tesseract and Kryptonite to build weapons of mass destruction.”

“Because of them.” Fury pointed at both Thor and Kara.

“Me?”

“What?”

“But you’ve known that Kara has been on our team since SHIELD found her,” Tony argued. “So why the Krytonite?”

“Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town. We learned that not only are we not alone, but we are hopelessly, hilariously, outgunned.”

“My people want nothing but peace with your planet,” Thor told him.

“And very obviously, my people aren’t an issue.” Kara reminded him.

“But you’re not the only people out there, are you?” Fury asked them. “And you’re not the only threat. The world is filling up with people who can’t be matched, that can’t be controlled.”

“Like you controlled the cube?” Steve wondered, anger clear in his voice.

“Your work with the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it, and his allies. It is a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war.” Thor told them seriously.

“A higher form?” Steve asked.

“Definitely.” Kara agreed with him. “By poking that bear, so to speak, you’re inviting all manner of enemies here.”

“You forced our hand.” Fury told them. “We had to come up with something.”

“A nuclear deterrent.” Tony supplied. “Because that always calms everything right down.”

“Remind me again how you made your fortune, Stark?” Fury quipped.

Steve moved forward. “I’m sure if he still made weapons, Stark would be neck-deep…”

“Hang on, how is this now about me?” Tony questioned.

Steve glared at him. “I’m sorry, isn’t everything?”

Kara pushed him back a foot. “What the hell did I say earlier? Do you really want to mess with me?”

“I thought humans were more evolved than this,” Thor said aloud.

Fury turned to him. “Excuse me, did we come to your planet and blow stuff up?”

Thor gestured to Kara. “You treat your champions with such mistrust.”

“Are you boys that naïve?” Natasha asked. “SHIELD monitors potential threats.”

“Captain America is on threat watch?” Bruce asked, shocked.

She turned to him. “We all are.”

Tony did a double-take. “Wait, you’re on that list? Are you above or below angry bees?”

Steve growled. “Stark, so help me God, if you make one more wisecrack…”

Kara shoved him against the wall. “Don’t even think about it, Rogers.”

“Show some respect.” He told her as he moved her aside.

“Respect what?” Tony asked him. “You don’t even know anything about us or any of this.”

Shaking her head, Kara walked away from them and moved to stand by Thor. “You speak of control, yet you court chaos.”

“That’s his M.O., isn’t it?” Bruce asked. “I mean, what are we, a team? No, we’re a chemical mixture that makes chaos. We’re…we’re a time bomb.”

“You need to step away.” Fury told him.

As expected, Tony chose that moment to chime in. “Why shouldn’t the guy let off some steam?”

“You know damn well why,” Steve told him. “Back off!”

“Oh, I’m starting to want you to make me.”

“Yeah. Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?”

“Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist,” Tony responded flippantly.

“I know guys with none of that worth ten of you,” Steve told him.

There was a blast of heat and everyone turned to see that Kara has blasted a spot right above Steve’s shoulder, a slight smell of burning fabric from where she’d grazed his shoulder filling the room. “You know nothing about him, so back off! Now.”

Ignoring her, Steve continued. “I’ve seen the footage. The only thing you really fight for is yourself. You’re not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you.”

Shrugging, Tony could see Thor holding Kara back from attacking. “I think I would just cut the wire.”

“Always a way out.” Steve scoffed. “You know you may not be a threat, but you better stop pretending to be a hero.”

“Kara, stop,” Tony told her and then turned to Steve again. “A hero? Like you? You’re a laboratory experiment, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle.”

“Put on the suit. Let’s go a few rounds.” Steve told him.

Kara turned her head suddenly. “Uh…guys?”

“Yeah, this is a team,” Bruce said sarcastically behind them.

“Guys?”

Fury spoke over her. “Agent Romanoff, would you escort Dr. Banner back to his…”

“Where? You rented my room.”

“The cell was just in case…”

“In case you needed to kill me, but you can’t. I know, I tried.”

Silence filled the room at his admission. Kara’s heart broke at the look on his face and the tone in his voice.

“I got low. I didn’t see an end. So, I put a bullet in my mouth and the other guy spit it out.” He recounted. “So, I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good. Until you dragged me back into this freak show and put everyone here at risk. You want to know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You want to know how I stay calm?”

“Dr. Banner,” Steve said slowly. “put down the scepter.”

As the computer beeped, Bruce set the scepter on the table. He walked over to look at the screen, and Kara’s head whipped around again. “Hey, guys…”

“You located the Tesseract?”

“I could get there faster,” Tony said. “Or Kara could.”

“The Tesseract belongs on Asgard,” Thor argued. “No human is a match for it.”

“You’re not going alone,” Steve told Tony.

“You’re gonna stop me?” Tony taunted.

“Guys!” Kara tried to interject.

“Put on the suit, let’s find out.”

“I’m not afraid to hit an old man.”

“Put on the suit.”

“Oh, my God.” Bruce made eye contact with Kara.

“Guys!”

The blast happened before anyone could react and Kara felt her body thrown through the wall and into another room. Then the alarms went off.


	8. Fixing the Ship

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara landed next to Steve.
> 
> Putting a hand on his shoulder, she looked at him. “Are you okay?”
> 
> He nodded. “Are you?”
> 
> She smiled. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

Groaning in pain, Kara blinked her eyes. Dust filled the air and she could hear sirens blaring all around her. As her body was too weak to move, she flopped her head to the side and saw that Thor had been thrown into the room with her.

“Thor…”

She saw his body move and he sat up. “Kara?”

Once his body was out of the way, Kara saw the reason for her weakness. “The dagger.”

Looking around, Thor saw the broken pieces of the Kryptonite dagger laying only a few feet from them. Quickly grabbing it, he wasted no time in throwing it through the hole in the wall and as far from them as possible.

Grabbing her hand to help her up, he looked down at her. “What do we do now?”

“We go and help our team.” She told him and hurried out of the room.

They were halfway down the hallway when she stopped in her tracks. “What is it?”

She cringed. “Shit. Hulk, one level down.”

Over their comms, they heard Fury’s voice in their ears. “Hill!”

“External detonation.” She replied. “Number three engine is down.”

Another agent spoke up. “Turbine looks mostly intact, but it’s impossible to get out there to make repairs while we’re in the air.”

“We lose one more engine, we won’t be,” Hill commented. “Somebody’s got to get outside and patch that engine.”

“Stark, you copy?”

“I’m on it.” Tony’s voice said quickly.

Kara looked at Thor. “You go deal with Hulk. I’ll help Tony. If we fall….”

He nodded and they parted ways. Kara ran quickly down to find engine three.

…

Steve yanked the door open to engine three and found multiple technicians trying to escape. Letting them through, he ran to the vast opening from the blast and waited. “Stark! I’m here!”

“Good,” Tony told him as he flew to assess the turbine. “Let’s see what we’ve got.”

Looking at the damage, Tony started muttering to himself. “I’ve got to get this superconducting coolant system back online before I can access the rotors, work on dislodging the debris.”

Then he spoke to Steve again. “I need you to get to that engine control panel and tell me which relays are in overload position.”

Jumping across, Steve held on to the remaining structure as he made his way to the control panel. Once he was there, he pulled it out and stared at it in confusion. He had no idea what he was looking at.

“What does it look like in there?” Tony asked him.

Steve sighed. “It seems to run on some form of electricity.”

Tony nodded. “Well, you’re not wrong.”

Tony walked him through what needed to be done and then flew back to look at the turbine from a different angle.

“Okay, the relays are intact,” Steve told him. “What’s our next move?”

“Even if I clear the rotors this thing won’t re-engage without a jump.” Tony thought quickly. “I’m going to have to get in there and push.”

“Well, if that thing gets up to speed, you’ll get shredded.” The soldier said, unsure of what they should do.

“That stator control unit can reverse the polarity long enough to disengage maglev and that could…”

Steve frowned. “Speak. English.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “You see that red lever? It will slow the rotors down long enough for me to get out. Stand by it. Wait for my word.”

Jumping over to it, Steve held the lever and waited for his signal. When he looked up he saw two armed guards enter the room, aiming for them. Just as he was about to get in their way, Kara rushed in and drop-kicked the one in back.

“Watch out!” Steve shouted to her. “These guys are armed.”

“You think?” She shouted back and jumped in front of the gun that was aimed for his chest.

The bullets bounced off of her and she punched the man, sending him to the floor in shock.

“Well, that’s handy,” Steve commented as more guards entered behind their fallen peers.

Fighting them alongside the captain, Kara chuckled. “You have no idea.”

As Steve jumped back up and grabbed a gun to shoot back, Kara felt the ship start to tilt. “Oh shit.”

“Stark, we’re losing altitude,” Fury commanded over the comms.

“Yeah, I noticed,” Tony responded, still working to fix the problem.

"I wasn't talking to you." Came the director's blunt reply.

“I’m working on it!” Kara yelled back, punching one of the guards to the floor.

Running up to the same level as Steve, Kara looked at him. “Keep them off of us, got it?”

“What are you going to do?” He asked, still shooting.

“I’m going to carry the ship.” She said simply, shrugging, and then she leapt out into the air.

“Kara!” Steve shouted after her until he saw her shoot across and under the ship. “She flies. Okay then.”

Flying under the ship, Kara took a deep breath and then pushed against the bottom with all of her force. She could feel it start to slow its descent, but it was growing increasingly heavy as the seconds dragged on. As she was pushing harder, he heard a loud blast and looked up just in time to see a jet explode in the air, with a massive green figure being ejected from it.

“Tony, I’m going to need you to hurry it up!” Kara shouted into her comm as her hands dug into the metal to get a better grip on it.

“I’m about to move the blades.” He told her. “Rogers, I need you by that lever.”

As she waited for Steve’s reply, she saw another piece of the ship fall. Her heart stopped. “Guys, Loki’s out. He trapped Thor in the cell. Both he and the Hulk are off the ship.”

“Copy.” Fury noted.

“Tony!” She shouted, her voice strained.

“Just hang on, one more minute, I’ve just about got it.” He promised his sister, hearing her struggle. “Cap, hit the lever.”

“I need a minute here!” The man yelled back.

“Lever, now!” Tony said hurriedly.

Crawling back to the lever took longer than he hoped, and suddenly Tony was being crushed by the blades. “Uh-oh.”

Finally, Steve reached the lever and Tony escaped the turbine. “Okay, sis, you can let go now.”

Slowly, releasing the ship in case of any problems, Kara noted that the ship was indeed rising back to its regular altitude. Shaking out her hands, she shot back up by her brother and as he flew in and landed on one of the men, Kara landed next to Steve.

Putting a hand on his shoulder, she looked at him. “Are you okay?”

He nodded. “Are you?”

She smiled. “Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“So what else can you do?” He joked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” Kara shook her head.

Steve was about to make another comment when Fury’s voice filled their comms. “Agent Coulson is down.”

Kara didn’t know how to react. She stood painfully still, one hand on Steve’s arm and the other on her stomach as though it hurt. All three of them stood silently, waiting for news.

“A medical team is on its way to your location.”

“They’re here.” Fury replied. “They called it.”

The whole ship went silent.


	9. Assemble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “There was an idea…the Starks know this…called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could."

There was relative silence on the main deck. After news of Phil’s death, no one had been able to say much, if anything at all. Kara sat at the round table between Steve and her brother and tried to keep the tears from falling. She hadn’t known him well, but she did know him. He hadn’t deserved the fate that had befallen him.

In addition to that, both Bruce and Thor had been thrown from the ship. No one had any idea if either had managed to survive their falls and that hurt as well. She hadn’t known Bruce well, but she liked him. Thor, on the other hand, was someone Kara had known from her childhood and she was devastated. She hoped that he would be okay so she could hold on to that connection.

As Fury and Hill walked in, Kara looked up at them, expecting to hear…something. They said nothing. Not being able to take the silence, Kara took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She carefully unclasped her necklace and laid it on the table in front of them.

Laying her hand over her family’s crest, it started to glow. “You have been the sun of our lives. Our prayers will be the sun that lights your way on the journey home.”

Taking in a shaky breath, she continued. “We will remember you in every dawn and await the night we join you in the sky. Rao’s will be done.”

As her voice tapered off, the glowing stopped. Kara lifted the necklace and as she fastened it once more around her neck, she looked up to see Steve watching her. Neither spoke, but the emotion in the room was loud enough.

“These were in Phil Coulson’s jacket.” Fury said suddenly, looking at Steve. “I guess he never did get you to sign them.”

He threw a bloodied stack of trading cards on the table and Kara watched as Steve picked one up, grief and guilt clear on his face.

Fury continued. “We’re dead in the air up here. Our communications, the location of the cube, Banner, Thor…” He paused. “I got nothing for you. I lost my one good eye. Maybe I had that coming.

“Yes, we were going to build an arsenal with the Tesseract.” He admitted and then looked at Kara. “The Kryptonite was our backup. I never put all my chips on that number, though, because I was playing something even riskier.

“There was an idea…the Starks know this…called the Avengers Initiative. The idea was to bring together a group of remarkable people, to see if they could become something more. To see if they could work together when we needed them to, to fight the battles that we never could.

“Phil Coulson died still believing in that idea. In heroes.”

That seemed to be the tipping point for Tony as he stood and after a moment’s hesitation, left the room. Steve looked like he was going to say something, but Kara gently shook her head.

“Well, it’s an old-fashioned notion.” Fury sighed.

Then he walked away. Kara stood and grabbed her phone as she walked out. As she got to the hallway, she leaned against the wall and listened to it ring.

“Hi, Mama!”

“Hey, baby girl.” She smiled at the sound of her daughter’s voice, trying to keep it level. “I miss you.”

“Mama, you’ve only been gone for a day.” Layna pointed out.

Letting out an involuntary chuckle, Kara knew she had a point. “That’s true…but can I not still miss you?”

“Are you okay?” The second-grader asked her. “You sound sad.”

Taking a deep breath, Kara saw Steve walk out and stop near her. “I just…Mama lost a friend today.”

Layna was silent for a minute before she continued. “I love you, Mama.”

“Now how did you know that was what I needed to hear?” Kara teased lightly.

“Because I’m smart.”

Laughing now, Kara shook her head. “Yes, you are. Can I assume you’re driving Uncle Rhodey insane?”

She could imagine the girl nodding as she giggled. “He says I’m a menace just like Uncle Tony.”

“Good. He needs a little of that in his dull life.” Kara joked. “You can tell him I said that.”

“Okay!” Layna said excitedly.

Looking at Steve, Kara bit her lip. “Honey, I have to go. But I love you, you know that?”

“Yes, Mama,” Layna told her. “Bye!”

Bringing her phone away from her ear, Kara paused before looking back at Steve. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “Nothing to apologize for. Your child?”

Kara nodded. “Layna. She’s seven and a real spitfire. Just like her uncle.”

She showed him a picture and an odd warmth he’d never felt before filled his heart. “She gorgeous.” She looked oddly like his mother at that age.

“Thankfully, she takes more after me than anyone.”

“What about her father?” He asked innocently.

“He left when she was barely one,” Kara told him. “He wasn’t even there the day she was born. Thank Rao for Tony, otherwise, I would have been alone.”

“He stayed with you?” Steve asked.

Kara nodded. “Yeah. He found me scared to death and never left my side. He’s her godfather. I don’t think I could trust anybody more than I trust him.”

Lapsing into silence, they watched as SHIELD officers moved around them.

“That was beautiful,” Steve told her and saw her confused expression. “What you said on the bridge.”

“It’s was the Prayer for the Dead on Krypton. It sends our loved ones into Rao’s light with the idea that we will all be joined there one day. That’s where my family is and I would hope that Coulson would end up there as well.” She told him.

Steve chose not to respond to that and looked down the hallway. “Tony seemed especially upset.”

Kara nodded again. “We have a history with Coulson. He was there the day I first revealed my powers to everyone including Tony. He was also there when I finally took up the mantle of Supergirl. We weren’t super close but…he was a friend.

“Tony…deals with emotions differently. Because of how he was raised by our dad, he doesn’t feel like he can show them to anyone. You just have to let it happen.”

“I wonder where he went.” Steve said, looking around.

“He’s in the holding chamber where they kept Loki. Where…” She trailed off.

“You know him really well.” Steve told her.

“I do.” She agreed. “But also, I can hear him walking around down there.”

“That’s right…you have super hearing.” Steve chuckled. “And you are bulletproof. And you can fly.”

Smiling up at him, Kara pushed herself off the wall. “I can do a lot of things. Come on, you can question me while we go to Tony.”

…

When they walked into the room, the first thing Kara felt was the grief rolling off of her brother. Knowing better than to say anything, she stepped past Steve when he stopped on the ledge and sat with her feet dangling off.

“Was he married?” Steve broke the silence.

“No,” Tony replied, surprising Kara. “There was a, uh, cellist, I think.”

“I’m sorry,” Steve told him, thinking about the things that Kara told him only minutes beforehand. “He seemed like a good man.”

“He was an idiot.”

‘Here we go.’ Kara thought and watched the pair discuss.

“Why?” Steve asked. “For believing?”

Tony moved closer to them. “For taking on Loki alone.”

“He was doing his job.”

“He was out of his league.” Tony scoffed. “He should have waited. He should have…”

Steve walked closer to her brother, and Kara stood to follow. “Sometimes there isn’t a way out, Tony.”

“Right, I’ve heard that before,” Tony said angrily.

“Is this the first time you lost a soldier?” Steve asked.

“Don’t…” Kara tried to stop him but Tony spun around quickly.

“We are not soldiers.” 

Kara immediately jumped between them. “Both of you, calm down.”

Eyeing each other, Tony sighed. “I’m not marching to Fury’s fife.”

“Neither am I.” Steve agreed. “He’s got the same blood on his hands that Loki does. But right now we’ve got to put that behind us and get this done.”

“How do you suggest we do that?” Kara asked him, sincerity in her voice.

“Loki needs a power source,” Steve said, turning his attention to her. “If we can put together a list…”

“He made it personal.”

Kara and Steve turned to Tony and she could see the gears moving in his head.

“That’s not the point.” Steve started but Kara got it now.

“Yes, it is.” She told him. “He made it personal for us. That’s Loki’s point.”

Nodding at his sister, Tony gestured to them. “He hit us all right where we live. Why?”

“To tear us apart,” Steve suggested.

“Yeah, divide and conquer is great, but he knows he has to take us out to win, right? That’s what he wants. He wants to beat us, he wants to be seen doing it.”

“He wants an audience,” Kara said, a sick idea entering her mind.

“Right.” Steve finally caught on. “I caught his act in Stuttgart.”

“Yeah, that’s just the previews,” Tony said, walking up the steps. “This is opening night. And Loki, he’s a full-tilt diva, right?”

“Tony…”

Ignoring her, he continued. “He wants flowers, he wants parades. He wants a monument built to the skies with his name plastered…” His horrified gaze flew to Kara. “Son of a bitch.”

Racing out of the room, all three heroes got to work.

“I have to fix my helmet but that shouldn’t take long,” Tony told them, racing off.

“Okay, we need to suit up and get to New York as quickly as possible,” Steve told her, watching after him. “How long will it take you to change?”

Facing her again, he saw that she was already in her suit. “Wow.”

“What do you want me to do?” She asked quickly, hands on her hips.

“Get to the tower. Find out what he’s up to and try to evacuate as many civilians as possible.” Steve told her. “This is going to get ugly.”

“On it.” Then she flew through a window, shattering the glass, and was gone.


	10. The Battle of New York: Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Let’s do a headcount here.
> 
> “Your brother, the demigod. A super-soldier, a living legend to kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues. A couple of master assassins. The last daughter of Krypton, who is pretty much invincible. And you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of the end!
> 
> I also want to address some excellent constructive criticism I received from Anakinflair a few days ago, because I am sure other people feel the same or are wondering the same things.
> 
> From the beginning, I have stated that this story will very closely follow the original texts (i.e. the Avenger films and random episodes from the Arrowverse). Yes, copying the dialogue line by line can get old, and many stories do this. It can also sometimes come off as clumsy, and "cherry-picking" isn't always the way to go, as was said in the comment.
> 
> This story is only the third in a long series that I am working on; (And boy do I mean LONG because I'm taking this shit through Endgame and beyond, people! Yes, that means original storylines and stories after Far From Home!) Many of them will follow the source material closely, and Kara will just be thrown in, much like in this story. I will, however, add my own scenes and chapters as I see fit, and as I see them fitting into how I want this series to go.
> 
> This story has always been for my own fantasy and enjoyment first and foremost. I don't see anything wrong with admitting that. The idea came to me in a dream I had, which I then expanded on because I like the thought of it so much. I posted it because I figured that if I enjoyed it, then there might be someone else out there who would agree with me.
> 
> I am going to try my best to keep this story from falling into chaos and the clumsiness that some might find in fanfiction. But if it does fall into that, then so be it. If it isn't for you, I completely understand. I want people to enjoy my writing, but sometimes I just have to post for myself and let the story do what it will. And if I look back later and find that I hate what I've written, which is what happened for Anakinflair and their past work, then I will either rewrite it or just let it be and move on to other stories. But for now, I am enthralled by this.
> 
> Please keep in mind these few things:
> 
> 1.) I have already written the next few stories, and though I do go through and edit them, I like how these are playing out, "cherry-picking" and all.
> 
> 2.) I am always looking for extra scenes and chapters to add-in so that it isn't just regurgitated from the movies and tv shows. But as I said, much of what you will read here (up to a point) will be "cherry-picked" from the original content. And I am okay with that.
> 
> 3.) I am going through a lot in my personal life right now. Not only has my family been directly affected by COVID, but I am also dealing with a really rough batch of depression and anxiety. On top of that, I am also searching for a new job while trying to leave my current job. But I also need insurance, so I'm having some trouble. It is not easy. This series is one of the very, very few things in my life I look forward to right now, and it is also keeping me sane.
> 
> To sum this all up, I wanted to mostly thank Anakinflair for giving me constructive criticism and for especially doing it politely. There are many times on other stories and other platforms, where I have received very harsh words and criticism that went way beyond polite or even acceptable. This comment was very well put and did make me think about a lot of things. I hope you stick around and let me know if it gets better, but I understand that you may not want to do that.
> 
> However, while I keep these things in mind, I am going to continue with my stories as I have been. If this content isn't for you, then I apologize. I know that this type of media is not for everyone. I am working on making it not as 'word for word,' but as I am enjoying what I write, which to me, is the most important thing, it will probably look much the same for now.
> 
> Please know that I have some fantastic and entertaining storylines and character arcs coming that I think, or hope, people will like. You just have to be patient with me, as some of these things won't be coming for a little while.
> 
> If anyone is curious about anything else, please feel free to reach out to me or to comment and ask. I also do like constructive criticism, but like I said, please keep it polite. I am human, after all.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for the long note, but I wanted to let everyone know about these things. Now enjoy the rest of this story!
> 
> (Also, I hope this came off as nicely as I wanted it to? I do like help, I also just wanted to state where I'm coming from. I hope it doesn't sound mean.)

Flying over the city, it didn’t take Kara long to find the Asgardian. He stood on the balcony of her tower, grinning as she stopped to hover in front of him.

“Loki!”

His grin grew even larger. “Ah…my old friend.”

She didn’t flinch. “Why are you doing this?”

“I am simply fulfilling my birthright.” He told her. “Or did Thor not tell you of my true parentage.”

“He mentioned it.” She replied. “But you’re not the only one adopted into circumstances you can’t control.”

This time he laughed. “Does it not burn you to know that you have risen this far, yet are still shadowed in your brother’s light?”

“I compare myself to no man,” Kara told him harshly. “If we spend our lives comparing ourselves to our brothers, we end up nowhere. We have to make our lives our own, and use our powers for good if we want to be seen as our own person.”

“Oh, yes, our powers. I heard you gained some impressive gifts from falling to this planet. I wonder, why has no one seen you for what you truly are?”

“And what would that be?”

“A monster.” He grinned.

Crossing her arms over her chest, she set her jaw. “Better a monster than an arrogant god.”

His face grew angry. “It’s amusing how you care for this world as you would your own.”

“This world is my own. I may have been born on Krypton, but my home is here now.” She told him. “And though I always valued our friendship, I won’t let you destroy it.”

“Well, then I suppose this is where our friendship ends.” He said quickly and sent a blast from his spear down onto the street below them. “You better hurry. There’s not much time left to save them.”

Kara shot down, leaving Loki behind. As she made it to the ground, she saw people running away from the building. “Go! Get away from here!”

People turned to look at her with confusion as she ushered people away. Seeing that many were not listening, she flew around, trying to move them herself.

“Supergirl, what’s the update?”

Hearing her brother’s voice, she groaned. “Loki’s in the tower. He and Selvig are about to open the portal, and basically, no one down here is listening to me when I warn them of the danger.”

“Shit,” Tony said quietly. “The others are behind us, so just keep trying, and I’ll handle Loki.”

“Be careful, Tony. He’s totally unstable.”

“I know.” He assured her and shot toward his home.

Kara was still moving people out of the way when a loud bang erupted from the sky. Looking up, she saw that it came from the tower and her blood ran cold.

As she worked to continue clearing civilians, Tony made his way to the launch pad. “Okay, JARVIS, Plan B.”

_“Sir, the Mark 7 is not ready for deployment.”_

“Then skip the spinning rims, we’re on the clock.” He told the AI seriously.

As he dropped onto the launch pad, the suit started to detach from his body, and he watched as Loki stared him down. Walking inside, he waited while the god followed his actions.

“Please tell me you’re going to appeal to my humanity.” Loki teased.

“Uh, actually, I’m planning to threaten you,” Tony informed him.

Loki chuckled. “You should have left your armor on for that.”

“Yeah.” Tony shrugged. “It’s seen a bit of mileage, and you’ve got the, uh, glow stick of destiny. Would you like a drink?”

“Stalling me won’t change anything.” The man in green told him.

“No, no.” Tony reminded him. “Threatening. No drink? Are you sure? I’m having one.”

Rolling his eyes, Loki walked to the window. “The Chitauri are coming. Nothing will change that. What have I to fear?”

“The Avengers.” At Loki’s confused expression, Tony shook his head. “That’s what we call ourselves. We’re sort of like a team. ‘Earth’s Mightiest Heroes’ type thing.”

“Yes,” Loki smiled. “I’ve met them.”

Now it was Tony’s turn to laugh. “Yeah. It takes us a while to get any traction; I’ll give you that one. But, let’s do a headcount here.

“Your brother, the demigod. A super-soldier, a living legend to kind of lives up to the legend. A man with breathtaking anger-management issues. A couple of master assassins. The last daughter of Krypton, who is pretty much invincible. And you, big fella, you’ve managed to piss off every single one of them.”

“That was the plan.”

Tony cringed. “Not a great plan. When they come, and they will, they’ll come for you.”

“I have an army.”

“We have a Hulk and a personified weapon.”

“Is that how you see your beloved sister?” Loki tilted his head. “And I thought the beast had wandered off?”

“You’re missing the point,” Tony told him. “There is no throne. There is no version of this where you come out on top. _Maybe_ your army comes, and _maybe_ it’s too much for us, but it’s all on you.

“Because if we can’t protect the Earth, then you can be damn well sure we’ll avenge it.”

Tony sipped his drink as Loki’s face darkened, and he moved to face him. “How will your friends have time for me, when they’re so busy fighting you?”

He lifted his spear to Tony’s chest, but the power fizzled out as it was met with a clang. He tried again, resulting in the same.

Loki was confused. “This usually works.”

Tony shrugged. “Well, performance issues, it’s not uncommon. One out of five…”

With this comment, Loki grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground. “JARVIS, anytime now.”

“You will all fall before me,” Loki growled.

“Deploy!” Tony yelled. “Deploy!”

Without warning, his body was thrown through the plate glass window, and he started to fall. Within a few seconds, his new armor enclosed his body, and he was flying back up into the air.

Facing Loki, he stopped. “And there’s one other person you pissed off. His name was Phil.”

As Loki lifted the spear, Tony sent a blast that had Loki flying backward into the room. Then a loud boom sounded, and the portal was open.

“Right,” Tony muttered. “Army.”

As he shot up toward the portal, he knew he couldn’t hold them off alone. “Hey, Supergirl, I’m going to need you up top. Right now.”

Looking up and seeing the mess, Kara gasped. “On my way.”

At the same moment she met her brother, Thor landed on the balcony near his brother. “Loki! Turn off the Tesseract, or I’ll destroy it.”

Looking at Thor, the dark-haired man was calm. “You can’t. There is no stopping it. There is only the war.”

Instantly regretting what he had to do, Thor gripped his hammer. “So be it.”

As they fought, massive chunks of the building started to fall onto the city below. Not far from them, Kara heard Natasha’s voice in her comm.

“Stark, we’re on your three, headed northeast.”

“What? Did you stop for drive-through?” He asked sarcastically. “Swing up Park; I’m gonna lay them out for you.”

She was about to join them when JARVIS’s voice filled her ears. “Miss, we have more incoming.”

Kara sighed and changed direction. “Fine, let’s keep them occupied.”

…

Landing harshly on the pavement, the other three Avengers ran out of the jet and looked around at the destruction.

“We’ve gotta get back up there,” Steve said urgently as they looked up at Stark Tower.

Just then, a loud mechanical groan was heard, causing them all to stop and look at the portal. Instead of more soldiers exiting the portal, a giant mechanical dragon-looking object flew out. From it, dozens more soldiers leapt into the air.

As they stood there, Steve heard Kara’s voice come through the comms. “Oh, Rao.”

“Stark, are you seeing this?” He asked.

“Seeing,” Tony confirmed. “Still…working on believing. Where’s Banner? Has he shown up yet?”

“Banner?” Steve questioned.

“Just keep me posted,” Tony told him and destroyed a few more soldiers. “JARVIS, find me a soft spot.”

On the ground, Steve crouched down by Natasha and Clint as Loki flew by. “Loki.” Then he paused. “He’s on the move.”

“I’ve got him,” Kara told him and quickly caught up to the god.

As he flew passed, she shot holes through passing alien soldiers with her heat vision. Watching her fly over, Clint let out a whistle.

“I’m going to take a wild guess and say that’s Supergirl.”

Steve grinned and nodded, echoing her words from earlier now that he saw more of what she could do. “You have no idea.”


	11. The Battle of New York: Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “El mayarah.”
> 
> Everyone looked at Kara in confusion. Clint smirked. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”
> 
> “It’s Kryptonian. It means ‘stronger together.’” She told him. “That’s what we need to be.”

Landing on the ship that Loki controlled, Kara ripped him away and punched him in the face.

“Kara, you know this is the only way.” He told her in earnest.

Shaking her head, she dodged his hit. “No, it’s not.”

“Then be prepared to join your family in the great beyond.” He taunted. “Then, all of Krypton will be but a distant memory, forgotten in time.”

“If that is Rao’s will, then so be it.” She told him. “But, you’ll find that I won’t go down so easily.”

Glaring at her, he jumped from the ship just as she tried to blast him. Cursing, she watched as he landed on another ship and was gone. Seeing one of the Chitauri coming up to her, she threw a punch, but they overpowered her, so she blew them away from her and fled the ship.

…

As chaos ensued, a frantic police officer ran up to his superior. “It’s going to be an hour before they can scramble the National Guard.”

“National Guard?” The man asked in shock. “Do the army know what’s happening here?”

“Do we?”

Just as the question left his lips, Steve landed on a car in front of them. “You need men in these buildings. There are people inside, and they’re going to be running right into the line of fire. You take them to the basements or through the subway. You keep them off the streets. I need a perimeter as far back as 39th.”

“Why the hell should I take orders from you?” The superior asked.

As if to answer his question, a horde of Chitauri soldiers swarmed Steve at that moment. He took the first out by blocking himself with his shield and then using it to beat him back. The second had its blast blown back at him while receiving a punch to the face. The third was knocked out by another punch, and the fourth had his arm ripped off. He then smacked him with the shield for good measure and looked down at the cop.

Instantly, the man picked up his radio. “I need men in those buildings. Lead the people down and away from the streets. We’re going to set up a perimeter all the way down to 39th street.”

Without waiting for confirmation, Steve ran off to find his group again. As he made his way back to the SHIELD agents, he knew that they needed a plan…and fast. While fighting by their side, lightning suddenly took out a swarm of soldiers, and Thor landed in front of them.

“What’s the story upstairs?” Steve asked him.

“The power surrounding the cube is impenetrable,” Thor revealed.

Landing behind them, Kara bent over to put her hands on her knees. “He’s right. We have to deal with these guys.”

“How do we do this?” Natasha asked.

“As a team,” Steve told her.

“I have unfinished business with Loki,” Thor said immediately.

“Yeah?” Clint picked up an arrow. “Well, get in line.”

“Save it,” Steve told them. “We don’t have time to argue.”

“El mayarah.”

Everyone looked at Kara in confusion. Clint smirked. “Am I supposed to know what that means?”

“It’s Kryptonian. It means ‘stronger together.’” She told him. “That’s what we need to be.”

Steve nodded. “Like the lady said.” Then he sighed. “Loki’s going to keep the fight focused on us, and that’s what we need. Without him, these things could run wild. We got Stark and Supergirl up top. They’re going to need us to…”

His voice trailed off as the sound of a motorcycle was heard coming their way. Looking behind him, he saw Bruce drive up and park in front of them.

“So, this all seems…horrible.” He joked.

“I’ve seen worse.” Natasha reminded him.

He winced. “Sorry.”

“No, we could…use a little worse.” She smirked.

“Stark,” Steve said into the comms. “we got him.”

“Banner?” Tony asked, relieved.

“Just like you said.”

“Then tell him to suit up. I’m bringing the party to you.”

As they looked up, they all saw Tony flying at them, a giant dragon ship coming behind him.

“I don’t…see how that’s a party,” Natasha commented.

Bruce turned and started walking towards it when Steve stopped him. “Dr. Banner? Now might be a real good time to get angry.”

“That’s my secret, Captain.” Bruce shrugged. “I’m always angry.

As soon as the words were out, his whole body turned green and grew into the Hulk in seconds. Throwing his fist out, he yelled as the ship hit him, and he used his force to push it back and slow it down. As the top half started to fall over onto the group, Kara shot into the air and rammed her body against it.

“Hold on,” Tony told them as he flew over and shot explosives into it, turning it to pieces.

As she flew back to them, they stood together as a group. While the other six stood around her, Kara hovered above them in the air as they took in the destruction and creatures around them.

“Supergirl, what do you see?” Tony asked quickly.

Using her vision, she focused on the buildings around her. “We’ve got Chitauri on almost every building, trying to get through to the residents. Steve, your perimeter has been set up, and it looks like they haven’t gotten as far as that yet, so hopefully, that will be far enough. Oh, and Loki just told someone to send the rest of his army through the portal.”

Nodding, Stark looked up at the portal. “Call it, Captain.”

“Alright, listen up. Until we can close that portal, our priority is containment. Barton, I want you on that roof. Eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back, or you turn it to ash.”

“Want to give me a lift?” Clint asked Tony.

“Better clench up, Legolas,” Tony told him, and they were gone.

“Thor, you got to try and bottleneck that portal. Slow them down. You got the lightning. Light the bastards up.” Moments later, he too was gone.

“Supergirl, get up top. Rip apart as many of those things as possible and do whatever you have to do to keep them off of us. Listen for us, make sure we’re not overpowered.” Kara nodded and flew up, grabbing on to a ship and destroying it.

Looking at Natasha, Steve gestured around them. “You and me, we stay here on the ground. We keep the fighting here.” Then he turned. “And Hulk…smash.”

Hulk grinned as he was given his order and leapt onto a nearby building, taking out multiple soldiers at once.

…

From her vantage point above the buildings, Kara could see all of her friends fighting to keep the Chitauri at bay. Looking down, she saw a squadron cornering people on the street and shot down to them. As she fought, she heard the familiar sound of her brother’s repulsors behind her, and for a brief moment they fought together, back to back. Then he was gone, and she took off in the opposite direction.

A moment later, she heard Clint’s voice calling for Steve. “Captain, the bank of 42nd past Madison. They’ve cornered a lot of civilians in there.”

“I’m on it,” Steve told him, breathing heavily.

“You want some help?” Kara asked, already making her way towards the location.

“I wouldn’t say no.” He told her honestly.

She arrived just in time to see Steve throw his shield at a soldier and blocked the other shots as he dove out of the way. The blasts barely fazed her, and she quickly took them down.

“Everyone clear out!” He yelled.

Kara turned to see him fighting another soldier, and her ears picked up on a rapid beeping sound. “Is that…?”

“Yep.” He replied as he grabbed his shield and jumped behind it.

She quickly sped to him and blocked them both with her cape, sending them flying out the window and onto the street below. She felt them land on the roof of a car and felt something solid drop on her stomach.

Looking up, she realized it was Steve who had landed face down on top of her. “Uh…hi.”

His cheeks turned pink. “Sorry.”

They quickly and painfully stood up and avoided eye contact.

“I, uh…” Kara pointed to the sky.

Steve nodded. “Yeah.”

She flew away immediately and saw Hulk being overpowered by a group of soldiers on a rooftop below her. Flying down, she landed and blew them backward, so he had time to smash them. “Do we have eyes on Loki?”

“Hulk smash.”

Looking at Hulk, Kara smirked. “Nice job, big guy.”

“I can close it.” Natasha’s voice struggled over the comms. “Can anybody copy? I can shut the portal down.”

“Do it!” Steve yelled, but Tony interrupted him.

“No, wait.”

“Stark, these things are still coming.”

Kara heard him grunt. “I got a nuke coming in. It’s gonna blow in less than a minute. And I know just where to put it.”

“Let me do it!” Kara insisted immediately, looking up for him. “Please, Tony.”

“It’s lined with Kryptonite.” He told her. “Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t get anywhere near it.”

“Stark, you know that’s a one-way trip,” Steve said quietly.

“Save the rest for the turn, J.”

“No!” Kara shouted and shot up to follow him.


	12. The Battle of New York: Part 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “JARVIS, override his controls.” She instructed the AI.
> 
> “Kara,” Tony said urgently, but she kept coming. “Kara, stop!” He shouted.
> 
> She stopped abruptly and froze in midair. “Please don’t do this.”
> 
> Taking another shaky breath, he set his jaw. “You have to let me do this, K.”

Following the bomb closely, Tony took a shaky breath. He knew he wouldn’t be coming back from this, and he wasn’t exactly sure how to feel.

_“Sir, shall I try Miss Potts?”_

“Might as well.” He listened to it ring, but there was no answer.

Kara flew as fast as she could behind him. “JARVIS, override his controls.” She instructed the AI.

“Kara,” Tony said urgently, but she kept coming. “Kara, stop!” He shouted.

She stopped abruptly and froze in midair. “Please don’t do this.”

Taking another shaky breath, he set his jaw. “You have to let me do this, K.”

Slowly lowering herself to the ground, she landed next to Steve and Thor, who saw the tears in her eyes. “How can you ask me to do that?”

“I want you to know,” he said as he latched on to the missile. “that no matter where you came from, you’ve always been my sister. You may have been born on another planet, but from the moment you took your first breath, you were mine. You’ve made me proud every day.”

“You’ve made me proud too, Tony.” She said, letting the tears fall. “Layna couldn’t have had a better father figure in her life.”

“Tell her I love her.” He told his sister, his voice breaking. “Let her know I didn’t leave her like her father did.”

“She knows, Tony,” Kara assured him. “She knows.”

She looked up, watching him veer away from the tower, shooting up toward the portal with the missile in his arms. “I love you.”

Then he was gone. Kara stared at the sky with the two men next to her and waited to see what would happen. “I can grab him.”

“Even without the missile in his arms, it's close enough for the Kryptonite to hurt you. Then you’d both be gone.” Steve told her and pulled her back when she struggled. “Think about your daughter!”

Looking at him sharply, she snarled, the heat clearly visible in her eyes.

After waiting another moment, Steve sighed. “Close it.” He told Natasha and waited for the repercussions.

Around them, the Chitauri kept coming, and Kara couldn’t hold back her pain. Facing them, she let out a gut-wrenching scream and used more heat vision than she even knew she had to take them down. The entire team heard her grief through the comms, but Steve and Thor were the only ones around to see her physically break. It was both scary and heartbreaking at the same time, Steve decided, and knew that he would remember this moment forever.

As the soldiers all fell, Kara’s vision stopped, and her body slumped. Catching her before she hit the ground, Steve tucked her into this side, dropping to his knees with her. “Kara. Hey, look at me.”

Slowly raising her gaze to his, more tears fell from her eyes. Then he saw her gaze shift from him to the portal. Turning, he watched as Tony’s body fell from the sky just as the portal closed. “Son of a gun.”

They watched as his body fell and suddenly realized he wasn’t slowing himself down at all. Just as Thor swung his hammer and prepared to catch him, Tony was plucked from the sky by Hulk, who jumped passed and landed on a building. Using it to slow them down, he landed by the group and dropped the billionaire at their feet.

“Is he breathing?” Kara asked, panicked as Thor ripped the faceplate off his suit.

Sharing a look with Thor, Steve’s arm tightened around Kara’s shoulders.

“No…” She cried and dropped her head onto the soldier’s chest. Her hand laid on Tony’s suit above the arc reactor, and her whole body shook.

Out of nowhere, Hulk roared in Tony’s face, and a gasp escaped his lips. Yanking her head up, Kara let out a relieved breath and stared at her brother. “Oh, thank Rao.”

“What the hell?” Tony asked as he looked around at everyone. “What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me.”

This time, Kara let out a burst of laughter and couldn’t stop it. Her whole body shook with it, and Steve pulled her closer and gently rubbed her back, knowing she was in shock. “We won.”

Sighing with relief, Tony laid his head down. “Alright, yay! Hurray. Good job, guys. Let’s just not come in tomorrow.” He choked out. “Let’s just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There’s a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don’t know what it is, but I want to try it.”

Kara shook her head. “You’re such an idiot.”

Chuckling, Steve continued to rub circles into her back. Then Thor spoke. “We’re not finished yet.”

Kara sobered slowly as Steve looked at Thor. Tony’s eyes stayed on her. “And then shawarma after?”

“Anything you want.” She told him, grabbing his hand to help him up.

…

“That was some pretty good teamwork you displayed out there.”

They found themselves sitting around the table on the helicarrier again, debriefing what was now being called ‘The Battle of New York.’ Once again, sitting between Steve and her brother, Kara smiled at Fury.

“Thank you, sir.”

“Now, we need to decide what to do with Loki.” He told them.

“Loki belongs on Asgard, where he will receive the proper punishment,” Thor said quickly.

Clint sighed. “Thor, I know he’s your brother, but…”

“I agree with him.” All eyes turned to Kara. “None of our jails will be able to hold him for long. I’ve been to Asgard.”

“You have?” Tony turned to her, shocked. “When?”

“I went as a child. I know that they are way more capable of handling Loki than we are. He belongs there.” She told them and paused. “As does the Tesseract.”

“Excuse me?” Steve asked her. “You want us to send that thing away where we can’t keep an eye on it?”

Looking at Thor, she nodded. “Yes, I do. If I’m not mistaken, Asgard is where it once resided, is it not?”

“She is right. The Tesseract was one of the most prized possession in my father’s treasure room. It will be safe there.” He informed them.

“Does anybody have a problem with this?” Fury asked the group, and no one spoke. “Okay, then. Let’s prepare both for departure back to Asgard.”

As they stood from the table, Kara accidentally tripped over Tony’s chair and hit the floor with a crunch. “Shit!”

Crouching to help her, Tony winced. “Shit, sorry. You okay?”

Holding her elbow where it hit the ground, he stared at him. “I…I’m bleeding.”

“What?” He sat her up and looked for himself. “How is that possible?”

Suddenly filled with panic, Kara looked at the wall behind them and focused her vision. “I can’t see through the wall. My powers are gone. Tony…”

“It’s okay.” He told her in a gentle voice, trying to calm her. “We’ll figure it out.”

Fury left the room without a word, but everyone’s attention was focused on Kara. Kneeling next to her, Bruce gentle examined her arm. “I think you may have dislocated your elbow.”

“Typical.” She grunted in pain.

“When Loki sent the Destroyer to Earth, some of our ancient texts fell with it,” Thor told them. “Some of them were old Kryptonian scripts.”

“Everything that fell from that attack was boxed up and put in our archives,” Hill told them.

Kara took a deep breath while Steve and Tony helped her stand. She hissed and grabbed at her elbow again, which was scraped open and swelling already. “You know, you could have mentioned how much this hurts.”

“Sorry.” Her brother replied as he supported her arm gently.

As Fury walked back into the room, Kara’s eyes landed on the book in his hand. “That’s Kryptonian.”

“We found it after Thor came to Earth the first time. We thought it could be helpful somewhere along the line.” Fury told her.

“You’ve had this for a year and never told me?” Kara gasped as her arm was jostled. “You are so lucky I don’t have my powers.”

Holding her arm in place, Tony looked at his sister. “Let’s get your arm fixed up first, then we’ll worry about threatening the super spy, okay?”

Biting her lip, Kara glared at the one-eyed man the entire walk out of the room.

…

Sitting on a bed in one of the medical rooms, Kara laid her head against the wall. Most of the pain was gone thanks to the doctor giving her drugs, but she still couldn’t believe that it had happened.

“Nice sling.”

Looking up, she saw Steve standing in the doorway in his civilian clothes. “It’s typical, really. I survive a massive alien battle and then hurt myself falling over a chair.”

“Well, in all fairness, you didn’t know you’d lost your powers. Besides, Tony shouldn’t have tripped you.” Steve smirked at her and watched her bite back a laugh. “I brought this for you. I figured you’d want it away from Fury as soon as possible.”

Taking the Kryptonian text from his hands, she laid in on her lap. “Thank you.”

He nodded. “Thor took a look at it. He couldn’t read everything, but from what he could make out, this should just be temporary.”

“Thank Rao.” She breathed. “It’s weird, not having my powers.”

“Where’s Tony?” Steve asked quickly, realizing he wasn’t there.

“He left to help Bruce build a safe conductor for the Tesseract to travel back to Asgard,” Kara told him as he sat next to her on the bed.

Nodding, he sighed. “Listen…I want to apologize for what I said about your daughter. It crossed a line.”

“No, it didn’t.” She admitted. “You were right. If I had gotten myself stuck, she wouldn’t have either of us anymore, and she would be alone…like I was.”

“That can’t be easy. Losing your parents that young.” He searched her face.

“It wasn’t losing them that was the hardest.” She told him. “I saw them die from my pod, you know.”

“God, I’m so sorry.” He told her.

She shook her head. “It’s life, and I knew what would happen when I left. The worst part? Knowing that my parents’ purposeful ignorance caused the death of our entire race. They were reckless with their care of Krypton, and they ended up being punished for it. Having to live with that knowledge is more excruciating than anything.”

“Well, coming from someone who has lost pretty much everything in their life, I don’t blame you for wanting to try and keep a tight hold on your remaining family.” He shrugged. “I’d like to think I would do the same thing if I were in your position.” Then he paused. “Actually, that is exactly what I did during the war, now that I think about it.”

Smiling, she watched as he recounted the story. When he finished, he looked up and saw that she was still smiling at him. “What?”

“I was just thinking that if one Stark isn’t getting kissed today, at least one of us should.” With her good arm, she yanked him forward and crushed her lips to his.

When they pulled apart, they stared at each other. “You know…that was my first kiss in over seventy years.”

“Oh shit.” Kara paled. “I totally forgot that it hasn’t been that long for you since you lost Aunt Peggy.”

He nodded. “That’s true, but I’ve been working on accepting that everything happens for a reason.” He smiled. “You know, that was also my first kiss with an alien…”

Laughing, she shoved him gently. “I can’t believe after all of this, you’re still caught up on that!”

“Can you blame me? You’re the first alien I ever met!” He teased her.

She grabbed her pillow and smacked him in the head. He just laughed and shoved it back at her.


	13. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You know, that offer to come to the tower is still available,” Tony told Bruce.
> 
> The scientist hesitated. “I don’t know…”
> 
> “You should go,” Kara told him.

“I can’t believe you’re leaving again.”

Thor smiled at Kara as he hugged her gently. “Do not worry. I am sure we will see each other again. Father will be pleased to hear of your survival.”

“Please tell him and your mother that I said hello and thank you.” She told him. “Be safe in your travels, Thor. I’m not losing you again.”

She stepped back to stand by Tony as she watched Thor grab a handle on their device. Turning it, he and Loki were gone. Turning to each other, the group said their goodbyes.

“You know, that offer to come to the tower is still available,” Tony told Bruce.

The scientist hesitated. “I don’t know…”

“You should go,” Kara told him. “You can always leave if you want to. You can go with Tony right now. He’s meeting Pepper there.”

“Uh, and just how will you get around?” Tony asked. “You still don’t have your powers, remember? No flying.”

This time she grinned. “Kit took Layna off of Rhodey’s hands and offered to watch her for a few more days. It’s about time I took a vacation, don’t you think?”

“Yes, but I’m still confused.”

Laying her good hand on his shoulder, she sighed. “I’m going to try and enjoy being human while I am. You don’t have to worry about me, Tony. I’ll be fine.”

Squeezing his hand, she turned and walked over to Steve’s motorcycle. Throwing her leg over the side, she used her good arm to wrap around his stomach and brace herself. Then he started it, and they drove off.

As they got in the car, Bruce smiled. “I told you.”

“Oh, shut up.”


End file.
